Over the last two decades, it has become commonplace to accommodate wheelchair users in mass transit vehicles, such as buses, trains or airplanes. Such accommodations typically allow these persons to ride in the vehicle while remaining in a wheelchair or similar mobility aid, such as a powered scooter. It is desirable, under these circumstances, to secure the wheelchair to the vehicle for the safety of the user of the wheelchair, as well as the safety of other occupants of the vehicle.
While numerous methods and devices have been developed for securing wheelchairs and other mobility aids to the interior of vehicles, many of the methods and devices create inconveniences to both the mobility aid occupant and the operator of the vehicle. Also, because the mobility aid occupant is frequently restricted in body movement, it is desirable to provide mobility aid securement systems which are easily reached and manipulated by such passenger. In the alternative, if such securement systems are not manipulatible solely by the passenger, it is desirable to have them easily operable by the vehicle driver or a driver's assistant. It is also desirable to provide mobility aid securement systems which are easily repositioned within the vehicle to permit the space sometimes used by a mobility aid occupant to be readily converted for use by ambulatory passengers. For this reason, a wide variety of methodologies and apparatuses have been developed in the form of stowable restraints for mobility aids and mobility aid-using passengers. Preferably, however, such restraints should be positioned in the immediate vicinity of the area where a mobility aid will be secured. In known systems using a plurality of belts and anchors (belts and anchors which are stowed remotely, for example, in a storage locker), such belts and anchors frequently become lost, damaged or soiled when not in use. Additionally, this type of restraint almost always requires installation in the vehicle and attachment to the mobility aid by someone other than the mobility aid occupant.
It is also known to provide mobility aid securement systems which are secured to the vehicle and articulate between a stowed and an extended position. This type of technology is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,359, issued to Cardona; U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,038, issued to Ditch et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,325, issued to Craft et al. Even these systems, however, have an important drawback in that it is difficult to provide the necessary engagement and manual tension to four discrete points on the mobility aid, in the fashion in which the securement apparatus for the mobility aid is usually attached to the vehicle, without the assistance of a person other than the mobility aid occupant.
There is a need, therefore, for a mobility aid tie-down system which is easily attached to the mobility aid by the mobility aid occupant alone, which is similarly easy to tension, and which is readily operable from a conveniently reached position. There is likewise a need for a mobility aid tie-down tensioning system which is power-assisted, permitting correct tension to be applied to the mobility aid by operation of electrical power, for example.